5 arrested for Mysuru gang rape, assault

POLICE SAY THE ACCUSED OFTEN TRAVELLED TO MYSURU FOR WORK; 1 SUSPECT STILL ABSCONDING

BENGALURU: Five people have been arrested from Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district for allegedly raping a 22-year-old woman near Mysuru and assaulting her friend, Karnataka police chief Praveen Sood said on Saturday.

The accused are blue-collar workers and often travelled to Mysuru for work, he said, adding that: “We have arrested five people from Tirupur. One suspect is absconding.”

The 22-year-old college student was travelling with her friend near Chamundi Hills on the outskirts of Mysuru on Tuesday when the accused accosted them. The accused first demanded money, but when the two resisted, they attacked the woman’s friend and raped her, police said. The survivor and her friend have been discharged from the hospital, said police.

While Sood did not reveal the identities of the accused citing the preliminary stage of the investigation, he said that one of the accused has claimed he is 17.

“This came out during the initial interrogation,” he said, adding that they were yet to verify this claim. He cited changes to the juvenile justice law and said anyone involved in such a case can be tried as an adult, if aged over 16.

According to the FIR, the accused have been booked under sections 376D (gang rape) and 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Karnataka police chief said the investigating team relied on technical and scientific evidence for the probe. He, however, did not give details on how the police zeroed in on the accused.

“We still have not brought them to Bengaluru, since the operation (to track the suspects)... went on throughout the night. We still have to interrogate them properly,” said Sood.

Officials said the woman was not in a position to give a statement to the police.